Bourne passes, runs Beavers past Blue Devils
Bluefield (51) vs. Gate City (28)
Written: Sep 20, 2014
By GEORGE TWAITES
for the Daily Telegraph
GATE CITY, Va. — Much like Mitchell Stadium, Gate City’s Legion Field is known for the home field advantage it usually affords.
Friday night, Bluefield made itself feel right at home.
Quarterback R.J. Bourne rushed for two touchdowns and passed for two more and the Beavers rolled to a 51-28 non-conference road win over the Blue Devils.
“We know if you stay down here long, you’re going to be in a dogfight. They don’t quit. The crowd doesn’t quit. We were very fortunate to get up like we did,” said Bluefield coach Fred Simon, whose team led 32-0 at the half.
With Gate City’s defense tweaked to contain running backs D.J. Stewart and Carlos Reed, Bourne initiated scoring with a 52-yard keeper on the Beavers’ first series of the game.
Bourne finished with 83 yards rushing, including an 8 yard scoring scramble. He passed for 127 yards, including a 49-yard scoring strike to Carlos Reed in the first quarter and a perfectly-placed 51-yard TD toss to Reed to cap first half scoring.
“He’s a very good leader for us. He ran our offense very well tonight and I also thought he played great defense for us. He’s a player,” Simon said.
Reed, who rushed for 61 yards, added a 35-yard scoring scramble early in the fourth quarter two snaps after a Gate City (2-1) muffed kickoff reception, the second of two Blue Devils kicking game muffs Bluefield capitalized on.
Stewart rushed for 112 yards to lead the Beavers (3-0), including touchdown runs of 3 and 54 yards.
Fullback Corey Coppola racked up 108 yards, the big man shocking the Blue Devils in the third quarter with a 55-yard scoring run.
Running back Evan Baker led Gate City’s second half resistance movement, finishing with 123 yards and scoring runs of 11 and 31 yards.
Blue Devils quarterback Hunter Collier also came alive in the second half. The sophomore signal caller passed for 151 yards, including a 5-yard TD toss to Neth Gardner. Collier also scored on a 5-yard scoring sneak.
“What surprised me was their passing game. With our speed, I thought we’d contain them. But we didn’t and my hat’s off to them,” said Simon.
Gate City coach Bill Houseright, whose fastest player, Caleb Herron, missed Friday’s game due to a shoulder injury, has been nursing a back injury of his own. He communicated to his coaching staff via headphones while watching the game from a perch in the back of a pickup truck under the scoreboard.
He was surprisingly upbeat after the game, no doubt a by-product of his team’s second half scrap.
“I was proud of the way our kids came out and battled back. That was their ones in there late, and we were battling our tails off,” Houseright said.
“I think we’re heading the right way. I thought we finished strong. After getting ourselves in a big old hole like that, when you battle back after being down 32-0, you have to feel pretty good about that.”
at Legion Field
Bluefield.........................19 13 7 12 — 51
Gate City..........................0 0 14 14 — 28
First Quarter
BHS — R.J. Bourne 52 run (run failed)
BHS — Carlos Reed 49 pass from Bourne (pass failed)
BHS — D.J. Stewart 3 run (Tyler Easley kick)
Second Quarter
BHS — Bourne 8 run (kick blocked)
BHS — Reed 51 pass from Bourne (Easley kick)
Third Quarter
GC — Evan Baker 11 run (pass failed)
BHS — Corey Coppola 55 run (Easley kick)
GC -Neth Gardner 5 pass from Hunter Collier (Trevor Lunsford pass from Collier)
Fourth Quarter
BH — Stewart 54 run (kick failed)
BH — Reed 35 run (kick failed)
GC — Baker 31 run (Gardner pass from Collier)
GC — Collier 5 run (pass failed)
———
BHS GC
First Downs 13 14
Rushes-Yards 43-369 30-157
Passing Yards 127 151
Total Offense 496 308
Comp-Att-Int 3-8-0 13-24-0
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 2-2
Punts-Avg. 1-38 5-28.2
Penalties-Yards 5-42 0-0
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